Get Your Camera Practice at CameraSim.com

by Eric Von Lehmden | March 16, 2012

Most camera novices don’t know too much about their DSLR when they buy it. They stick it on the auto feature and click away. They may be a little timid about figuring out what all those dials and settings mean on the camera. Here is a pretty cool little online resource you can go to play with some of those settings. The CameraSim from camerasim.com is kind of like a flight simulator with most of the bells and whistles a modern DSLR comes with.

You can play in Aperture or Shutter priority mode or you can simulate being in Manual mode. Aperture Priority will let you control your f-stop (aperture) and ISO (film speed) while the camera figures out your Shutter speed. Shutter priority is the exact opposite. You control your shutter speed and ISO and the camera chooses your aperture. In Manual mode you are in control of everything. You can also control your lighting conditions, focal or zoom length, and distance to subject.

The little girl with the spinning pinwheel is moving back and forth so you can get an idea what a slow shutter speed will do to the photo and what faster shutter speeds will do. After you snap the photo you will see your processed photo and get a little feedback whether you snapped a good photo or if you still need a little work.

I think this is a great little tool because it lets you try all different settings without the fear of abusing a brand new camera (although I am pretty sure the camera can take it). If anything it gives you an apples to apples comparison on what happens when you change different settings. And it looks like they will be adding different scenes to play around with down the road. Very cool, definitely check it out if you want to learn more about the camera settings on a DSLR and how they effect your image.